This was my 2nd attempt at flying on ANA’s Inspiration of Japan. It was my return flight after taking the LH A380 from FRA to NRT. ANA originally launched this new plane and new product on its NRT-JFK route and recently launched the new product daily on the NRT-FRA route. The first time, I found a great business class fare: SGN-NRT-JFK on the very first day of the scheduled launch of Inspiration of Japan. Unfortunately the launch was delayed at the 11th hour. The new premium economy seats, the original reason for the delay, are still not installed on the plane I flew from Narita to Frankfurt; registered as JA785A.

For this trip I had a coach class ticket. Upon check in, I attempted to get myself into a business class seat, but the best the check-in agent could do was moving me from a middle seat to an exit row: 30A. For this, I was thankful.

SEATS
Row 30, “window” seats have no window. You can see out a window if you lean back and turn your head. The emergency slide on both sides of this 2-4-3 seat configuration protrudes into the exit row. Boarding and departure were picture perfect for this flight that consisted of 11:34 flying time.

As was the case on my last ANA flight, all electronics needed to be turned off immediately after boarding. This was strictly enforced. The first thing I noticed was how narrow the seat was. My left shoulder was jammed right up against the wall of the plane. The seat was also hard as a rock. This aircraft was delivered to ANA in March of 2010 so the seats either have not been broken in yet or the manufacturer used a very tough material. By hour five of the flight, I was sitting on my pillow because my ass hurt so bad. By hour 8, I was sitting on 2 pillows! The backs of these new economy seats are fixed but the back and bottom of the seats do slide to provide a small amount of recline.
I took some quick pictures of the business class seats (below), which look narrow and there appears to be a lot of wasted space, but I have not sat in them yet.

FOOD
There were two meals served, The first was great in terms of quantity, quality and authenticity. The second meal was exactly the opposite. Terrible, in fact. I have had better coach meals on US carriers. ANA is offering "My Choice" dining between meals. From what I could understand, for a fee, economy passengers can order food and drinks through their in seat monitors, although that feature was not working properly on this flight. The food was still available though. I paid for a bowl of noodles and they were very tasty. Beer and wine were complimentary at meal time but were not available between meals for pay or free; that's annoying; either make it available or don't.

AUDIO VIDEO ON-DEMAND
The TV screen was the largest I have ever seen in economy. The music selection was pretty weak but the movies and games were great. There is a USB hook up to play your ipod through the planes system. There was also power at each coach seat, but mine did not work. If you are an airline and/or geography buff, you will love the half dozen, customizable moving maps and the nose camera.

CONCLUSION
I believe the Inspiration of Japan will be a success for All Nippon Airways. The food in economy needs some help, but the service was top notch. Perhaps 3rd time is a charm and I will experience ANA's new Business Class seats on the Inspiration of Japan.

Quoting planereality (Thread starter):There were two meals served, The first was great in terms of quantity, quality and authenticity. The second meal was exactly the opposite. Terrible, in fact. I have had better coach meals on US carriers.

Quoting planereality,reply=0:ANA is offering "My Choice" dining between meals. From what I could understand, for a fee, economy passengers can order food and drinks through their in seat monitors, although that feature was not working properly on this flight.

Both of those meals look pretty ghastly. That is bizarre that they provide an ancillary option for purchasing extra food onboard. I really would not expect this with a full-service, non-low cost carrier such as ANA, especially with a pretty lengthy flight stage. Good choice of beers goin with the Asahi

Interesting that the seat cushions were that uncomfortable. Those PTV monitors look intense.

Great TR! I am jealous to see that you got to fly on ANA's new seats etc.. I actually just flew on NH 11 ORD-NRT and again I had the older system. I certainly do enjoy ANA's product and can't wait to fly them again!!!

oh no! I was not aware that NH Y-class was so bad! No beers in between the meals? And paying for noodles?! This airline has gone 'low' and this can't be the Japanese airline in Star Alliance! But, maybe they need to do so otherwise they get in the same trouble as their biggest competitor JAL.
Actually I like the seat design, but apparently not comfortable at all. Also the 2-4-3 layout is very, very interesting to say at least. A big plus and nice to be able to get a 2-seater when on travel with your partner.
btw very stupid to see, on that picture of the 'mini Y-class', the seatback is having a IFE screen. But it has no use. ANA should change that. It doesn't look professional. For sure it doesn't look Japanese.
Congrats with this great report though. I definitely shows the current level of ANA. It dissappoints me for sure

Both meals look very poor, and not at the same level of the meal services I´ve had on past JAL flights from Japan to Europe (I haven´t flown ANA lately). I´ll be flying ANA next October (MUC-NRT and NRT-LHR), and to tell the truth, after reading a lot about ANA´s Inspiration of Japan new standards, I´m not expecting much from those flights regarding the meal service. Definitely it looks like a downgrade compared to their previous product.

It seems they have cut down on the free catering in the hopes of getting more passengers to pay for meals/snacks in between. I guess we'll see if this approach will last. The rest of the product still looks nice enough that I would want to try it out.

Thank you so much for sharing!
Im planning a trip to Japan in Oct and ANA is my first choice closely followed by the widget, is that a Hot Dog I saw in the picture? Yuck!
I loved the cabin design on the ANA 777, very sleek and modern.